Shell retaining assembly

ABSTRACT

A system for retaining a shell casing for trimming or other desired operations. A cutting station is coupled to an end plate by a frame. The cutting station is provided with a rotational driver coupled to a cutting tool. Multiple supports are secured between the cutting station and the end plate. The carriage assembly rides along the supports. The carriage assembly is provided with a shell holder and a case lock to secure a shell casing to the carriage. The carriage is slid along the supports into engagement with the cutting tool of the cutting station. A stop is releasably secured to the supports to prevent the carriage assembly from moving beyond the distance required to cut the shell casing to the desired length.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate in general to a shell retaining assembly and, more specifically, to a shell retaining assembly on a reciprocating carriage configured to engage an adjustable stop.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Shooters reload ammunition for many reasons including cost savings and increased accuracy. The reloading process typically involves preparing a shell casing, inserting a primer into the shell casing, loading the shell casing with a predetermined amount of powder, and seating a bullet in the shell casing. Before the shell casing can be loaded, several preparatory steps must be undertaken to ensure both safety and accuracy. One such preparatory step involves trimming the shell casing to a predetermined length.

When cartridges, especially bottleneck cartridges such as those used in many types of rifles, are fired the pressure generated by the firing can stretch the length of the shell casing. After multiple firings if the shell casing extends beyond the maximum allowable specifications, reloading such oversized shell casing could lead to dangerously high pressures that could damage the shell casing, the firearm, and/or the shooter. This is because if an assembled cartridge has an overly long shell casing, when the cartridge is inserted into a rifle, the neck of the cartridge and bullet extend too far down the barrel of the weapon. This causes the cartridge to become pinched in the barrel, with the barrel pressing the neck of the cartridge into engagement with the bullet. If the pinching is severe enough, the pinching can cause the bullet to be restricted, thereby dramatically increasing the pressure within the shell casing when the cartridge is fired. If the pressure is significant enough, the shell casing may explode, causing damage to the firearm and user.

It is also desirable to provide shell casings of a predetermined length prior to reloading to increase the consistency of the assembled cartridges. Inconsistencies in shell casing length can lead to problems with accuracy.

It is known in the art to provide a manual shell casing trimmer that includes a shell holder in alignment with a cutter. The shell casing trimmer is adjusted so that when a shell casing is positioned in the shell holder the cutter may be turned and extended toward the shell holder to cut the shell casing to a desired length. The maximum extension of the shell holder or cutter may be adjusted and provided with a stop to prevent the cutter from cutting the shell casing too short. One drawback associated with such prior art case trimmers is that manually turning the cutter to cut dozens or hundreds of shell casings can become both time consuming and exhausting.

It is also known in the art to couple an electric motor to a shell casing cutter to make the shell casing trimming more efficient. One drawback associated with such systems is the necessity of reciprocating the electric motor back and forth into and out of engagement with the shell casing. To facilitate this reciprocal motion, electric trimmers are often provided with carriage systems to provide a constant positive pressure on the motor to force the cutter into the shell casing at a predetermined speed and pressure. Such carriage systems are often heavy and complex, and may even include springs to force the cutter into engagement with the shell casing. Drawbacks associated with such systems include the additional cost, weight, and maintenance associated with such carriage systems. It would therefore be desirable to provide an electric trimmer which did not require complex reciprocation of the electric motor during the case trimming process. The difficulties discussed here and above are sought to be eliminated by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED SUBJECT MATTER

The present invention includes a frame coupling a cutting station to an endplate. The cutting station has a rotational driver coupled to a cutting tool. Coupled between the cutting station and the endplate are a plurality of supports to which a carriage is slidably coupled. A shell holder is releasably coupled to the carriage and a case lock is provided for releasably engaging a shell casing into engagement with the shell holder. A stop is slidably coupled to the support to restrict movement of the carriage beyond a predetermined point, thereby preventing the carriage from moving too close to the cutting tool and cutting the shell casing too short.

The features and advantages described in this summary and the following detailed description are not all inclusive. Many additional features and advantages may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims presented herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a top rear perspective view, in partial phantom, of the shell retaining assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top front perspective view of the shell retaining assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front perspective view of the endplate of the shell retaining assembly of FIG. 1 shown with the shafts removed;

FIG. 4 illustrates a rear perspective view of the shell retaining assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates a front elevation of the carriage of the shell retaining assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 illustrates a rear perspective view of the carriage of FIG. 5 shown with the over-center lock in the released position;

FIG. 7 illustrates a top rear perspective view of the stop of the shell retaining assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side elevation in partial phantom of the stop of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a partial phantom

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As shown in FIG. 1 a shell retaining assembly (10) is shown generally as having a cutting station (12) coupled to an endplate (14) by a frame or base (16). The base (16) is integral with the cutting station (12) and secured to the endplate (14) by a pair of screws (18 & 20). The cutting station (12), endplate (14), and base (16) are preferably constructed of machined aluminum, but may of course be constructed of any suitable material known in the art. Also coupled between the cutting station (12) and endplate (14) are a first support (22) second support (24) and third support (26). (FIGS. 1-2). As shown in FIG. 3, the first support (22) second support (24) and third support (26) are preferably cylindrical aluminum shafts provided with threaded ends (28, 30 & 32) which thread into mating engagement with threaded openings (34, 36 & 38) provided in the endplate (14). The first support (22) second support (24) and third support (26) are also provided with threaded ends (not shown) on their opposite ends which fit into threaded openings (not shown) in the faceplate (40) of the cutting station (12). (FIGS. 1-2). As shown in FIG. 3 the endplate (14) is also provided with two smaller threaded openings (42 & 44) to receive the screws (18 & 20), which thread into the base (16). (FIGS. 3-4).

A carriage assembly is shown generally as (46) in FIG. 5 the carriage assembly (46) has an aluminum body (48) provided with three through bores (50, 52 & 54) to receive and slidably engage the first support (22) second support (24) and third support (26). The through bores (50, 52 & 54) are preferably provided with tolerances that allow the carriage assembly (46) to slide freely along the supports (22, 24 & 26) without binding, but that retain the carriage assembly (46) tightly enough to prevent undesired torquing of the carriage assembly (46) as the carriage assembly (46) is moved back and forth along the supports (22, 24 & 26). The body (48) is provided with an opening (56) within which is provided a locking screw (58) of the case lock (60).

As shown in FIG. 6, the body (48) is provided with a threaded hole (62) passing from the rear of the body (48) to the opening (56). The case lock (60) has a threaded hollow shaft bolt (62) screwed into mating engagement with the threaded hole (62). Provided around the threaded hollow shaft bolt (62) is a lock nut (64). Once he threaded hollow shaft bolt (62) is screwed into the threaded hole (62) the desired distance, the lock nut (64) is screwed down the threaded hollow shaft bolt (62) until the lock nut (64) contacts the body (48), thereby locking the threaded hollow shaft bolt (62) into position.

A pair of triangular linkages (66 & 68) are pivotably coupled to either side of the threaded hollow shaft bolt (62) by a pair of rivets (70). The triangular linkages (66 & 68) are coupled to one another by a rivet (72). The triangular linkages (66 & 68) are also pivotably secured by rivets (74) to a fork (76) depending from a handle (78). The arms (80) of the fork (76) are pivotably coupled to a shaft (82) by a rivet (84) passing through the shaft (82). The shaft (82) is preferably constructed of steel and sized to reciprocate within the smooth hollow shaft (86) of the threaded hollow shaft bolt (62). The shaft (82) is provided on one end with a threaded hole (88) into which the locking screw (58) is threaded.

The case lock (60) is preferably of an “over-center” design, such that when the handle (76) is raised, the handle (76) is capable of moving to, and slightly past, a point of maximum insertion of the shaft (82) through the smooth hollow shaft (86) of the threaded hollow shaft bolt (62). Once the handle (76) is moved past the maximum insertion point of the shaft (82), the pressure needed to return the shaft (82) to the maximum insertion point of the shaft (82) is sufficient to maintain the shaft (82) in position and prevent the shaft (82) from inadvertently moving rearward until the handle (76) is manually returned to its original position. Although the preferred embodiment of the case lock (60) is described above, any suitable mechanism for reciprocating and retaining the shaft (82) may be used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the body (48) of the carriage assembly (46) is provided with a rim recess (92) a shell holder recess (94) and a lock plate recess (96). Provided within the shell holder recess (94) is a shell holder (98) and provided within the lock plate recess (96) is a lock plate (100). The shell holder (98) may be of any type known in the art to accommodate and retain shells of varying dimensions. Once the shell holder (98) has been positioned in the shell holder recess (94) the lock plate (100) is positioned over the shell holder (98) and into the lock plate recess (96). The lock plate (100) is secured to the body (48) of the carriage assembly (46) by a pair of screws (102 & 104), which may be quickly and easily removed when it is desired to replace the shell holder (98) with a shell holder for a different cartridge. The lock plate (100) is also provided with a pair of holes (106 & 108) to receive locator pins (110 & 112) provided on the shell holder (98).

As shown in FIGS. 1, 7 and 8, a stop (114) is slidably coupled to the first support (22) and second support (24). The stop (114) is preferably constructed of a solid block of machined aluminum having a first through bore (116) sized to accommodate the second support (24) and a second through bore (118) sized to accommodate the first support (22). While the through bores (116 & 118) are provided with tight enough tolerances to prevent the stop (114) for torquing relative to the supports (22 & 24), the second through bore (118) is may be sized slightly larger than the diameter of the first support (22). As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the second throughbore (118) is in fluid communication with a slit (120) passing all the way through the stop (114).

The stop (114) is provided with a threaded bore (122) below the slit (120) and a larger, non-threaded bore (124) above the slit (120). The threaded bore (122) and non-threaded bore (124) are preferably sized to accommodate a threaded set screw (126) used to pull the top portion (128) of the stop (114) toward the bottom portion (130) of the stop (114), thereby decreasing the dimensions of the second through bore (118) and clamping the stop (114) onto the first support (22). By tightly screwing the set screw (126) into the stop (114) the stop (114) is prevented from moving along the first support (22) and second support (24). Conversely, when the set screw (126) is loosened, the stop (114) is free to move relative to the first support (22) and second support (24).

As shown in FIG. 1, the cutting station (12) includes a housing (132) containing a rotary motor (134) such as those known in the art. In the preferred embodiment, the rotary motor (134) is an industrial gear motor such as the 6Z078B motor distributed by Dayton Electric Manufacturing Co. from Lake Forest Ill. The rotary motor (134) is preferably between 0.01 and 1 horsepower, and more preferably 0.05 horsepower. The rotary motor (134) preferably turns at between 5 and 100 revolutions per minute, and more preferably 32 revolutions per minute. If desired, the rotary motor (134) may be adjustable to turn at speeds ranging from 1 to 500 revolutions per minute. Preferably, the rotary motor (134) runs on 115 volts alternating current, but may be constructed to run on direct current or any other suitable power source. The rotary motor (134) is provided with a shaft (136) coupled to a cutter (138) such as those known in the art for cutting casings to the appropriate case length. As shown, the cutter (134) is provided with a guide rod (140) to locate and keep the cartridge casing from deviating from the desired path during the cutting process.

When it is desired to cut a shell case to the appropriate case length, the screws (102 & 104) are removed to release the lock plate (100) from the body (48) of the carriage assembly (46). The old shell holder (not shown) is removed and the new shell holder (98), suitable for the shell casing being trimmed, is inserted into the shell holder recess (94). The lock plate (100) is then placed over the shell holder (98) into the lock plate recess (96) with the locator pins (110 & 112) provided in the holes (106 & 108) of the lock plate (100). The screws (102 & 104) are then inserted and tightened to retain the lock plate (100) and shell holder (98) against the body (48) of the carriage assembly (46). As shown in FIG. 6, a shell casing (142) of the desired length is positioned within the opening (56) of the body (48) of the carriage assembly (46) such that the rim (144) of the shell casing (142) is positioned rearward of the shell holder (98) and the body (146) of the shell casing (142) is positioned forward of the shell holder (98) in a manner such that the shell holder (98) retains the shell casing (142) against forward and rearward movement.

Once the shell casing (142) has been inserted into the carriage assembly (46), the handle (68) is lifted, thereby driving the shaft (62) forward and the locking screw (58) into engagement with the base (148) of the shell casing (142). The handle (68) is lifted upward until the forks (66) travel over center, thereby locking the locking screw (58) into engagement with the base (144) of the shell casing (142). If the locking screw (48) is too extended to allow the forks (66) to lock over center, or if the locking screw (58) is retracted too much to provide secure engagement with the base (148) of the shell casing (142), the set screw (90) is unscrewed to allow the locking screw (58) to be adjusted as desired relative to the shaft (62) after which the set screw (90) is once again screwed into the shaft (62) to lock the locking screw (58) in the desired position.

Once the locking screw (58) has been locked into engagement with the base (148) of the shell casing (142), the carriage assembly (46) is manually pushed along the supports (22, 24 & 26) toward the cutting station (12). Once the guide rod (140) enters and centers the shell casing (142), and the top (150) of the shell casing (142) engages the non-moving cutter (138), the stop (114) is manually slid rearward along the first support (22) and second support (24) until the stop (114) contacts the carriage assembly (46). Once the stop (114) is in contact with the carriage assembly (46) and the top (150) of the shell casing (142) is in contact with the cutter (138), the set screw (126) of the stop (114) is screwed into the stop (114) until the stop (114) is locked into engagement with the first support (22). Thereafter, the carriage assembly (46) is manually retracted, the handle (68) lowered and the shell casing (142) of the desired length is removed from the carriage assembly (46).

A shell casing (152) having an overall length in excess of the desired overall length is thereafter inserted into the carriage assembly (46) in a manner such as that described above and the handle (68) lifted to lock the locking screw (58) into engagement with the base (154) of the shell casing (152). An on/off switch (156) on the cutting station (12) is actuated to start the rotary motor (134) that begins turning the cutter (138). The carriage assembly (46) is thereafter manually pushed forward along the supports (22, 24 & 26) until the guide rod (140) enters and centers the shell casing (152), and top (158) of the shell casing (152) engages the cutter (138). The cutter (138) then begins removing material from the top (158) of the shell casing (152). Slight pressure is continuously manually applied to the carriage assembly (46) in a forward manner until the carriage assembly (46) contacts the stop (114) and the cutter (138) is no longer able to remove additional material from the top (158) of the shell casing (152). Thereafter, the carriage assembly (46) is manually retracted along the supports (22, 24 & 26), the handle (68) lowered, the shell casing (152) removed and another shell casing (not shown) inserted into the carriage assembly (46) so that the process may be repeated until all shell casings are of the desired length.

Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that it is not to be so limited, since changes and modifications can be made therein which are within the full, intended scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, any desired type of cutting station (12) known in the art may be substituted for the cutting station (12). Additionally, any type of shell holder known in the art may be used in association with the carriage assembly (46). In other alternative embodiments of the present invention, one, two, four, five, or any desired number of supports may be used instead of the three supports (22, 24 & 26) shown. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An ammunition manufacturing assembly comprising: (a) a cutting station comprising: (i) a cutting tool having a cutting edge; (ii) a rotational driver drivably coupled to the cutting tool; (b) a frame coupled to the cutting station; (c) an end plate coupled to the frame; (d) a first support coupled between the cutting station and the end plate; (e) a second support coupled between the cutting station and the end plate; (f) a carriage slidably supported on the first support and on the second support; (g) a shell holder removably coupled to the carriage; (h) a case lock provided on the carriage; and (i) a stop slidably coupled to the first support.
 2. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 1, further comprising: (a) a third support coupled between the cutting station and the end plate; and (b) wherein the carriage is slidably supported on the third support.
 3. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 1, wherein the case lock is an over-center lock.
 4. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 2, further comprising a handle coupled to the over-center lock.
 5. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 1, wherein the case lock comprises a threaded base.
 6. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 5, wherein the first support, the second support, and the third support are shafts.
 7. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 5, wherein the first support, the second support, and the third support are cylindrical.
 8. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 1, further comprising a lock plate removably coupling the shell holder to the carriage.
 9. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 1, wherein the stop is slidably coupled to the second support.
 10. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 1, further comprising a stop lock coupled to the stop.
 11. An ammunition manufacturing assembly comprising: (a) a cutting station comprising: (i) a cutting tool having a cutting edge; (ii) a rotational driver drivably coupled to the cutting tool; (b) a base coupled to the cutting station; (c) an end plate coupled to the base; (d) a first support coupled between the cutting station and the end plate; (e) a second support coupled between the cutting station and the end plate; (f) a third support coupled between the cutting station and the end plate; (g) a carriage slidably supported on the first support, the second support, and the third support; (h) a shell holder removably coupled to the carriage; (i) a case lock provided on the carriage; and (j) a stop slidably coupled to the first support.
 12. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 11, further comprising a handle coupled to the case lock.
 13. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 11, wherein the case lock comprises a threaded base.
 14. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 11, wherein the first support, the second support and the third support are shafts.
 15. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 11, wherein the first support, the second support, and the third support are cylindrical.
 16. The ammunition manufacturing assembly of claim 11, further comprising a lock plate removably coupling the shell holder to the carriage.
 17. A case trimming assembly comprising: (a) a case trimming station comprising: (i) a cutting tool having a cutting edge; (ii) a rotational driver drivably coupled to the cutting tool; (b) an end plate; (d) a first support coupled between the case trimming station and the end plate; (e) a second support coupled between the case trimming station and the end plate; (f) a third support coupled between the case trimming station and the end plate; and (g) a carriage slidably supported on the first support, the second support, and the third support; (h) a shell holder removably coupled to the carriage; (i) an over-center lock provided on the carriage; and (j) a stop slidably coupled to the first support.
 18. The case trimming assembly of claim 17, wherein the first support, the second support, and the third support are cylindrical.
 19. The case trimming assembly of claim 17, further comprising a base coupling the case trimming station to the end plate.
 20. The case trimming assembly of claim 17, wherein the stop is slidably coupled to the second support. 